Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she spoke to President Trump by phone Wednesday about his intention to deploy a “surge” of federal agents in the city, which has been plagued by sharp increases in violent crime.
“The conversation was brief and direct,” said a statement from the Lightfoot office. “Mayor Lightfoot maintains that all resources will be investigative in nature and will be coordinated through the United States Attorney’s office. The mayor has made it clear that if there is any deviation from what was announced, we will seek all legal options. available to protect Chicagoans. “
Lightfoot and several other progressive mayors have resisted efforts by the Trump administration to send federal forces to their cities to combat rising crime, the destruction of federal property, or both. At a press conference to announce City Council approval of several unrelated measures, Lightfoot said Trump “got the message” that federal agents like those deployed in Portland, Oregon, do not belong to Chicago.
CHICAGO POLICE WARNS ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF SHOOTING: REPORT
“We do not need federal troops. We do not need unnamed and secret federal agents who roam the streets of Chicago, take residents without cause and violate their basic constitutional rights,” said the mayor. “I’m glad that the president understood the message.”
“I am glad to see that he realized that what he did in Portland was a serious abuse of his presidential power,” he added.
Chicago is experiencing a spike in gun violence that has seen dozens of people shot daily. On Tuesday, shots were fired outside a funeral home on the south side of town that saw 15 people injured. Hours later, a 3-year-old girl was shot in the head. She was expected to survive.
Over the past weekend, more than 60 people were shot and 12 were killed. Trump has continually singled out Chicago for its high crime levels, while blaming Democratic leaders for not quelling the violence.
“Perhaps no citizen has suffered more from the threat of violent crime than the wonderful people of Chicago, a city I know very well,” Trump said during his announcement Wednesday to deploy federal agents in the city.
While rebuking Lightfoot on Wednesday, Trump called Chicago a “disaster” and said “he is making a big mistake” in response to his opposition to the presence of federal forces.
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Agents will also be dispatched to Albuquerque, NM, and could be deployed to other cities experiencing a resurgence of gun violence. Local authorities and lawmakers where officers have been stationed have said the officers only increase tensions between residents and law enforcement.
Typically, the Department of Justice dispatches officers under its own umbrella, such as officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or the Drug Enforcement Administration. But this major effort will include officers from the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who generally conduct investigations of drug trafficking and child exploitation.
Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
